the government gave permission to start drilling in the arctic last year. whether or no company should be able to drill has been a point of contention for days, but shell was given the go-ahead, the okayed by the government. go for it. they send a two race. this is what happened, beached on an island. here is what happened to the other one, it is now under federal investigation by the justice department over a dozen safety violations discovered by the coast guard. shell was the only oil company deemed ready enough to start drilling in the arctic, in this pristine environment where we have not allowed drilling in the past. shell was the only company given the go-ahead by the u.s. government. shell sent two rigs to try to drill, and both went curse blatche. today, forget it, we are out. we can't do it. they announced today they are halting their drilling opt operations indefinitely. they are not returning for 2013. whether they return will depend

on a number of factors, including the readiness of the rigs and the confidence that lessons from 2012 will be incorporated. full incorporation or not, it depends on one more thing, whether or not the government will decide to allow them back at all. they were the only ones that have ever been allowed. given shall's mess up, they send two riggs, the first one failed, the second one failed. one crashed into an island. given that record, they are doing an emergency review of whether arctic drilling can be done safely at all. one company they thought could do it was shelled. that actually just said, we think maybe we can do it, so we will stop trying. wow. what happened today was unexpected. what happens next in this industry is anyone's guess. what happens next in this industry is next.

"first look" is up next. it's 5:00 here on the east coast. 11:00 a.m. in the vatican. they'll begin saying good-bye to the pope benedict xvi. his resignation shocked the world. this is the last televised event before the soon to be former pope departs the vatican for his summer residence at castel gandolfo. good morning. pope benedict xvi will spent the final hours of his pope with the cardinals. nbc's anne thomp soj is live at the vatican. let's start with the meeting with the cardinals, first, what is going to happen there? >> what will you see, mara, the

dean of the college of the cardinals will welcome the cardinals to the vatican, officially do that, then pope benedict will come in and he'll be greeted by each of the cardinals. there are about 100 cardinals here and the greetings will not be long. each one will come up, kneel before him and kiss his ring. but what is interesting is that perhaps, somewhere in this 100 people could be his successor. and it will be -- you know, people, vatican watchers will be watching very closely to see if there any kinds of signs or signals or favoritism to one of the possible successors or another. you know, people will being looing at this with different, different eyes. but yo can expect to see a lot of affection here.

>> and you know, this is of course, an opportunity for them to say good-bye. as you mentioned his successor could be among the cardinals there. is there any politicking going on? >> well, it's politicking but not the way we think of it. not in the american locket ral sense. the politicking that's done, at least i'm told by the cardinals themselves and people who have studied this for years, is far more subtle, it is conversations between one and two cardinals. and some of them have known each other, been exposed to each other as they attended various conferences over the years and they have risen through the church, but i think that one of the things that everybody is talking about, this group of cardinals electors don't know each other. not one person knows all of

them. like joseph ratzinger the last time around. he knew all of the cardinals involved. it made it easier for them to coalesce for him for pope. that is not in play at this time and as a result, you know, you have heard it over and over again and you'll hear it more in the coming weeks, at this point there's no front-runner. lot of different men who are being looked at because of their various skills. some of them because of their theological chops, if you will. so, one of the things that i have been doing, we have been watching this video to see who's talking to who and if you can detect any of those secret signals. >> anne if you can stand by for us one second. we're going to quickly hop to castel gandolfo the summer

residence where the pope spends his summer. claudio is live there at castel gandolfo. good morning. what are we expecting. what will his life be like in the coming months there? >> well, mara, we're standing here if main square of the ca castel gandolfo. pope benedict xvi will spend about two months until he finally retires inside the vatican walls. later on in the afternoon, we expect as many as 8,000 people coming from this town and around this area to be bid last farewell to pope benedict xvi. when the pope arrives here, with the helicopter, he's going to fly out from vatican city at about 11:00 eastern and arrive

here 10, 15 minutes later. that marks the beginning of the end of his pontificate. when he appears on that balcony behind my, about three hours later, 8:00 local time here, about 2:00 p.m. eastern, then he'll be pope emeritus, a retired pope with no executive powers anymore on over the catholic church. catholic church is filled of symbolism. the big symbol that will mark the end, is when the swiss guards will walk out at 8:00 tonight, 2:00 p.m., walk out that door behind me, to mark -- to symbolize that there's no pope to protect anymore until a new one, of course, is elected. mara? >> claudio, do we know what his days will be like there once he

is no longer pope? >> well, he'll definitely meditate and pray, because this has been the summer residence, has been the summer residence of choice for popes for 500 years, this is the place where poeps come during the sun -- >> apologize i'm going to have to cut you off. we see images of the pope entering the room with the cardinal. i want to take a look at the pope benedict xvi entering that room. a standing ovation and applause as he's being greeted by the group of cardinals. of course, it's not the full entire group of cardinals. our anne thompson estimated that there are about 100. they're there to say their final respects to say good-bye to the pope. they'll be approaching one at a time. they'll have an opportunity to

kiss the ring and say farewell. to the man who's abdicating the position of pope, the first pope to do so in 600 years. the cardinals are beginning this process of saying good-bye. >> anne, we can still here. >> mara, this is the welcome to the cardinals by the dean of the college of cardinals. i cannot hear it. i'm sure he's delivering it in italian. i would be in no help in translating. it's a welcome to the cardinals. i'm sure he's saying some remarks about the pontificate of benedict xvi. you know, this is a man who do not want to be pope. you call him a reluctant pope. he wanted to retire. he asked pope john paul ii, once

not if twice, if he could retire and john paul ii would not let him do that. he wanted to go back to bavaria and live with his brother. he wanted to go back to what he loves which is reading and writing. john paul said no, i need you here. pope john paul ii died and then he became pope. benedict is a far shyer man, he's a gentle man, he's far more than intellectual. he never sucked in the oxygen of the crowd. he at times, ren sant. since he announced his abdication, i have been struck by how much he relieved he

looks. he actually ad lib when he got up there. when i looked at his prepared text. heed a lib an aline, people say that the church is declining but i see the church as alive, because that crowd was filled with enthusiasm and energy yesterday. you know, you have seen when he met with some priests here in rome about a week ago, he was supposed to deliver a speech about the second vatican -- vatican ii, he was there at the time, that happened 50 years ago. he said no, i can't do that because of my advanced age. 85 has become his excuse to be more casual if you will and he said, no, i'll sit here and chat with you. he talked with 46 minutes without a note about what went on 50 years ago. so, clearly, his mind and those

who know him and those who read his writings, say, he has an extraordinary mind, a great intellect. his body -- he's 85 and he's tired. he made that very clear yesterday in his speech. >> anne, the question so many are wondering, who will the next pope be? do we have more guidance on when the conclave will begin and how long it will take them to elect a successor? >> we do know this, the general meetings of the cardinals will start on monday, and those general meetings include not only the cardinal electors, but also those over the age of 80 and they'll talk about the state of the church, they'll talk about the issues of the church, they'll talk about what kind of leader they want to see. and we also think, and expect that they'll talk about, monday or tuesday, when to start the

conclave and when to start the voting process. in the back there, you can see cardinal wuel of washington, d.c. and they'll hopefully select a date. but we really don't have any idea as to when will this start. the one thing that the deadline they're working against is that holy week begins march 24th with palm sunday and all of these cardinals want to be back at their archdiocese by then. >> anne thompson thank you. we'll take a quick break. on the other side of the break, we'll get to the rest of the news in the nation and the world. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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the country is just one day away from those $85 billion in automatic spending cuts known as the sequester. in washington this morning, still no sign of compromise to stoop it. the president has called congressional leaders to the white house tomorrow. will that be too late?

we have the details from washington, tracy, have they given up on making a deal? >> well, mean, with 20 hours to go, it looks like the focus has minimized the impact about what's about to happen. we're told that president obama will sign it towards the end of the day. he has until midnight on friday to do so. as you noted, he's called congressional leaders to the white house tomorrow morning on the day of this going into effect. to talk about it. that's john bayner, by the way, he ran into here on capitol hill when he was dedicating the rosa parks statue, they chatted for a minute. bayner also nancy pelosi will be at the meeting. and mitch mcconnell, the senate republican leader. all of them likely to talk about where we go next.

home land security releases some illegal immigrants from detention to save money. boehner said don't use any military planes. there's word that the u.s. may be changing its policy on aid to rebels in syria. nbc news has been told by senior officials, that certain aid will be given to certain syria groups. the nonlethal aid could include body armor and armored vehicles but not weapons. the uprising against syrian president began in march 2011. the u.s. supreme court is expected to make an important decision about the voting rights act by june, the high court heard arguments on a key part of the law that friers with states with history of civil rights discrimination to get permission before changing the law. outside the court, hundreds of

protesters rallied to support the law the way it is. well, coming up, we'll go back to the vatican for more on the pope's very last day. stay with us. but they can also hold you back. unless you ask, what's next? [ zapping ] [ clang ] this is the next level of performance. the next level of innovation. the next rx. the f sport. this is the pursuit of perfection. by the armful? by the barrelful? the carful? how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy, and can help you keep a healthy weight.

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no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review. welcome back to "first look." you're looking at a live picture from the vatican where pope

benedict xvi is saying good-bye to the cardinals on this the last day of pontiff. i want to go back to anne thompson. anne, we're seeing the cardinals one by one greeting the pope, do we know what the exchange is like? are they saying good-bye? asking for spiritual guidance? >> i'm sure most of them are wishing him good luck in the next phase of his life. wishing god's blessings on him. and if they have any kind of personal relationships, saying something. it's interesting. there's an usher there, the man in the white bow tie, if a cardinal speaks too long, one spoke too long to the pope, he gets an elbow from the usher and is told to move on. we were speaking earlier about how, in these final days, pope benedict seemed freer and how he ad lib yesterday at his final

audience. we didn't expect him to speak today. yet he delivered a speech to cardinals, in which he said that the college of cardinals need to work like an orchestra. he referenced yesterday that the church is alive. he said, quote, i pledged my unquestioned reverence and obedience to the next pope. he's telling them, there's been a lot of speculation about how the catholic church will deal with two popes. >> i mean, that's -- i find that to be a fascinating situation, it's the first time in hundreds of years, where you'll have someone still living and occupying the same space. will the new pope seek counsel from the next pope? >> well, and that's what

everybody wants to know. when we talk about being in unchartereder the terror, that's exa exactly. what will happen when you have two popes in vatican city, where do loyalties lie? pope benedict has made it very clear that he's not looking to hang on to the reins of power. this has been a great burden on him, he himself, he himself referred to the papacy as a great weight yesterday. and that he does want to retire and do what he enjoys most and that is reading and writing. and spending more time in prayer and meditation. he said, this is not just a personal desire of his, he said that he has done this, he has heard god's calling. that is what has led to this decision to essentially cloister himself off as he retires. and so, while he'll be just

across the garden from the new pope, if the new pope wanted to walk across the garden to the pope benedict's residence, he could do that, but no one expects that benedict will walk across the garden and start offering free advice to the new pope. >> all right, and anne, if you could stay with us. we're going to go back to claudio who's in castel gandolfo where preparations are under way to receive the pope. claudio, what's happening right now? >> well, mara, preparations are literally under way now. ahead of the arrival of the pope this afternoon. let me show you, get my cameraman to the pan to the building on my left. they're just putting up right now that huge sign, a big sign made of inflatable balloons. it says thank you benedict, we are all with you.

it shows the support of this town that has strong tice with the vatican and especially with popes for the last 500 years. the pope have chosen castel gandolfo and the summer residence behind me as the summer residence of choice to find solace during roman summers. when they come here, they're away from crying eyes of the vatican and this is where they can really relax. there's a huge botanical garden he here. beautiful vistas over a lake, down below, down the slopes. pope benedict xvi will start from here his disappearance from public eye, if you may put it in h those words. this is where we'll start getting away from public eye and

just putting the attention back to the vatican, to the new pope, when he will be elected. back to you, mara. >> claudio, thank you so much for that. we're going to bring anne thompson back for final thoughts. do you have any final thoughts as we observe this historic moment for the church? >> mara, you know, i have covered the death of a pope, i have covered popes as they encountered troubles, never did i imagine that i would see a pope abdicate and this is an extraordinary moment for the catholic church. >> all right. anne, thanks so much for that. "way too early" is up next. [ laughing ]

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